


Flight

by estuarie



Series: Quicksilver [3]
Category: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Ainur Stuff, F/M, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-06
Updated: 2020-12-06
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:15:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27922108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/estuarie/pseuds/estuarie
Summary: Ossë leaves Melkor and Mairon -- he does not know where to go next. It's not that easy to go back.
Relationships: Ossë/Uinen (Tolkien)
Series: Quicksilver [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2044606
Comments: 2
Kudos: 9





	Flight

Ossë follows his instinct, in that he flies as far away and as fast as he can.

He is drawn to the rivers first, and then along them to the firths, but not as far as daring to swim into the sea. He is disoriented and unsure, leaving upheaved riverbeds and flooded lakes in his wake. He wants to be found but he doesn’t want to be found, and he wants to be sure he can escape if he has to but he doesn’t want to be _felt_. So, he sticks to no body of water for too long.

Sometimes he recognizes familiarity in his surroundings and makes himself scarce very fast. But someone follows every time. She is patient, stalking, all-knowing, and he doesn’t know how to shake her.

She chases him into a dead-end cove with only one entry. He digs himself into the sand, but her seaweeds surround him and trap him.

Suddenly he _explodes_.

He leaves the cove twice as deep as it originally was. Dashes out to the sea only to seek for brackish water at the earliest possible opportunity. The water is not deep yet, not deep enough to be Ulmo’s territory, but he does not dare even get close.

His pursuer seems to relent. He does not know if he hurt her. He hopes he did not.

He brushes against seaweeds sometimes. They caress him gently, not tangling around his arms anymore. Little fish come to swarm around him and accept him as theirs.

He spends time in estuaries. It’s a compromise. Saltwater and freshwater mix, and he only manifests himself as little waves.

Sometimes, the kelps sing to him. He sways with them.

Only when he stands before Uinen does he notice how halved he has felt lately.

She doesn’t pursue him. She _coaxes_ him. She sits miles away from him and lets herself be felt and recognized. Lets him come closer until finally, they’re on the opposite sides of a small lake.

“Will you not return with me?” she asks softly and the seaweeds press against him like many cats looking for affection. He twists them around himself. He cannot speak; it is as though he has been made mute. He agrees anyway and she closes the distance. Along the way, she has taken a fana, and he slips into his without much thought.

She crushes him against herself and trembles and whimpers. He holds her and draws them to sit on the rocks lining the shore, buries his face in her hair, breathes.

“I did not feel whole,” she says and pulls away to place smooth, warm hands against his cheeks. “Not for the entire time you were away.”

“I am sorry,” he says -- first time of many.

It’s three more times to her before they even leave the lake -- then twice to Salmar who slaps him and embraces him right after, and he can keep his violent reaction under wraps only because Uinen stands next to him. Otherwise, he would bury Salmar under rocks from the cliffs lining the firth and leave him to dig himself out.

The violent visual amuses Uinen, he can feel that. Salmar knows _something_ is exchanged between them, but is used to being talked about.

Uinen holds him in warm water and water lilies. He trembles anyway as he feels Ulmo approach and storm clouds gather.

He says he is sorry so many times he loses count, but Ulmo waves that away and walks through whatever he tries. Sets himself low in front of his servant and Ossë can feel _his_ regret.

 _No, don’t_ and _I couldn’t save you_ war for a moment and Ossë falls apart.

Nothing after that hurts him. Not even kneeling in the middle of the Ring of Doom, the will of the Valar on all sides of him, because one of them is Ulmo and that is enough for him to feel safe. The Valar may argue about him, but he has an ally among them.

Aulë embraces him afterwards. He apologizes again.

**Author's Note:**

> When you make a word you like your user name..... and then you want to use that word in a fic...........
> 
> Anyway, here's some h/c stuff. I'm very much not good at writing Fluff for fluff's sake, it usually winds up being either NSFW or hurt-heavy hurt/comfort.


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